


Sunrise

by mysticalflute



Category: One Piece
Genre: Gen, Wano Arc (One Piece)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:47:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27072217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysticalflute/pseuds/mysticalflute
Summary: When the Whitebeard Pirates split, Izo finds himself running a dance school on a peaceful little island, but still, he yearns for his homeland of Wano.Still, something makes him uneasy when Nekomamushi shows up unannounced.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	Sunrise

Izo glanced at the clock on the wall before clapping his hands to get the attention of his students. “It’s four-thirty. Our lesson has ended.”

There was the familiar chorus of groans from the children, who slowly shuffled over to their cubbies to put their fans away and grab their belongings.

“Goodbye Izo-sensei!” the children chorused again as they rushed out the door and into the small village square.

Dancola Island wasn’t anything special, just a small collection of villages and farms. Their royal family lived on an island nearby, oblivious to the going-on here, which, given Izo’s past, suited him just fine.

It was a meager existence, but it was better than constantly being on the run from Pop’s  _ supposed  _ son. He’d heard the stories of his fellow comrades being attacked by that monster and his mother.

First Blackbeard, then Weevil. One by one, they were being picked off like flower petals.

Part of him almost  _ wanted  _ to be found by Weevil, tired of hiding in the shadows and on little islands like this, but there was something nagging in the back of his head, telling him to hold on.

He just wasn’t sure what it was.

Looking carefully around the school, he nudged a fan back into its cubby before moving into his adjoining apartment and setting up his tea kettle. While he loved that he was able to bring the cultural Wano dances to the rest of the world, teaching children was… a unique experience, and sometimes, tea was just what he needed to unwind after a long, stressful session.

His school was in the perfect spot, overlooking the sea and right in the middle of town. It almost made him feel like he was back on Wano, decades ago before his father was thrown in Udon.

Izo let out a heavy sigh and slumped into his outdoor chair when the tea was ready. How long had it been since he’d attempted to climb that damned waterfall? What had happened to Wano under Kaido’s control?

Ace had mentioned meeting Lord Oden once, but there was still discomfort in Izo’s gut whenever he thought about it. Oden was a prideful man - unless something terrible had happened, Izo couldn’t see any reason for him to accept being a part of Kaido’s territory.

“Mama, Papa! Watch!” he heard one of his students shout as her parents returned from the fields with baskets of crops. “Izo-sensei taught me a new move today!”

“Izo- _ sensei _ , huh? It’s good to see you’re still dancing after so many years.”

Izo’s reflex kicked in immediately, free hand reaching for one of the pistols he kept stashed in his kimono.

“Goronyanya! You’ve still got that reflex of yours too. Good, good. We’ll need that in the war.”

That laugh.

It couldn’t be.

Izo lifted his head in the direction of the voice, and the pistol very nearly dropped from his hand.

“Nekomamushi!”

The tea cup dropped to the ground, shattering, but Izo paid no mind to it as he launched himself out of the chair and over to the mink who’d placed himself behind his school. In the distance, Izo noticed a ship.

“It’s good to see you, old friend,” Nekomamushi said with a wide grin. “We have much to discuss.”

“Yes, I suppose we do. How is Lord Oden?”

Nekomamushi’s face lost all trace of joy at the mention. “Lord Oden is dead, Izo. As is Lady Toki.”

He felt color drain from his face. “W - what? When?”

“Twenty years ago.”

Izo’s legs buckled, and he barely managed to catch himself against the wall of the school. “T-tw - is Kiku okay?!” he cried.

“Kiku is safe, according to Raizo.”

“You, Kiku, Raizo… Nekomamushi, if Lord Oden and Lady Toki are dead, how are the three of you alive?”

“ _ All of us _ live, Izo,” Nekomamushi explained. “Lord Oden and Lady Toki sacrificed their lives for ours, and for Lord Momonoskue and Lady Hiyori.”

Izo sucked in a heavy breath. “Come inside then. I have something stronger than tea.”

Izo hadn’t taken into account being visited by a seventeen-foot-tall mink when building the school, so Nekomamushi didn’t fit inside. Instead, they sat at the edge of the cliff behind it, looking in the direction of Nekomamushi’s ship.

“Start from the beginning,” Izo said warily.

So Nekomamushi did, and with each word Izo grew more and more nauseous. He should have been there. He should have gone with Lord Oden to Roger’s ship, then back to Wano. He should have fought to keep Lady Toki, Lord Momonoskue and Lady Hiyori safe while Lord Oden was with Roger’s crew. He should have - 

“Lord Oden wouldn’t want you looking like that, Izo,” Nekomamushi suddenly said. “He would have wanted you to follow yougara heart.”

“I don’t care. I signed up to be his retainer. To protect his family. If I’d been there - ”

“You would have been separated from us anyway. Who knows if you would’ve ended up back at Oden Castle? The dog and I didn’t. We barely got out of Wano with our lives.”

Izo pressed his head against his knees, trembling. “I should have known something was wrong when I heard Kaido had taken Wano as one of his territories. I never would have guessed that Orochi would be such  _ scum _ . But… there’s something I don’t understand.”

“Nya?”

Lifting his head, Izo frowned deeply in concern. “When Ace joined up with us, I mentioned being from Wano. Ace said he’d been there and  _ met  _ Kozuki Oden, so I thought Oden was at least safe…”

“Once we take down Orochi and Kaido, we’ll figure out why that is,” Nekomamushi said. “So what do you say? Are you ready to go home?”

_ Home _ . 

It had been two long, agonizing years since Izo had felt any semblance of that.

Something inside of him sparked excitedly.

Home.

This was it. This was what he’d been holding on for. Wano’s liberation.

Izo rose to his feet. “There’s no time to waste then. The Fire Festival is in a few short days, isn’t it?”

Nekomamushi laughed. “There’s that fire I knew you had.”

Izo retreated back inside, grabbing his spare bullets and guns and pinned a short note of apology to the door of the school.

It was time to bring forth Wano’s new dawn.


End file.
